SUBIACO ABBEY BLOG: Change is in the air

Change is in the air. Here at Subiaco, the community has embarked on a number of renovation projects for both the Abbey and the Academy; the new columbarium, the building of a new dormitory Fuhrmann Hall, the resignation of Abbot Jerome Kodell, and an Abbatial Election March 24, among other changes. The Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery, our neighboring Benedictine community in Fort Smith, are also in the process of planning a major transition; discerning plans to build a new monastery site to replace the current 90 year-old structure.

Change is a part of our individual life's journey--whether we like change or not. How we deal with change starts from within ourselves. The choice is simple. One can either
accept change, "roll with the punches" in a manner of speaking, practice patience with ourselves and people around us, while at the same time to quote Abbot Jerome: "Be of good cheer!"

Or, one can
resist change, become embittered by change, and, well, become--as one of the Sisters of St. Scholastica puts it charitably--"a pill" for others to live with and "swallow." One does not have to like or even approve of change in order to
accept change. Acceptance is one's state of harmony/peace with reality both within oneself and on the surface.

An interior change took place within me during the 2013-2014 school year. I owe gratitude to the Academy's upcoming graduating Class of 2015 for this. The years before I taught the Class of 2015 as juniors, the old, familiar phrases with regard to my administering both management and discipline in the classroom included "zero tolerance" and "zero patience" for what I considered "nonsense." My two role models were the late NFL Football Coach Vince Lombardi and the late World War II hero, Four-Star General George S. Patton, Jr. Not to take a fraction of a sliver of the greatness these two men embodied, but I learned an important lesson: I am neither Lombardi nor Patton, and indeed a F---A---R cry from either of these two great men!!

I am Brother Joseph Heath, a Benedictine monk.

Oh wow! Now what does this
mean? As far as my teaching ministry, it means vigilance (as opposed to "none") in patience and tolerance in the classroom. A teacher can apply to ministry what the Holy Rule counsels the Abbot in Chapter 2:32 (And I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to be an abbot):

"He must so accommodate and adapt himself to each one's character and intelligence so that he will not only keep the flock entrusted to his care from dwindling, but will rejoice in the increase of a good flock."

The Class of 2015, during their junior year, brought these important lessons to the fore for me personally. Recently, these lessons were reaffirmed by two saints of the Catholic Church; Saints Angela Merici (January 27) and John Bosco (January 31), both involved in ministry to young girls and young boys respectively.

Declares St. Angela Merici from her work entitled
Spiritual Testament:

"I beg you again, strive to draw all by love, modesty, charity, not by pride and harshness....For God has given free will to everyone, and therefore God forces no one but only indicates, calls, persuades. Sometimes, however, something willhave to be done with a stronger command, yet in a suitable manner and according to the state and necessities of individuals; but then also we should be impelled only by charity and zeal for souls."

And from a letter by St. John Bosco:

"It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him....We must (
MUST!)
be firm but kind, and be patient with them....This was the method Jesus used with the Apostles. Jesus put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. Jesus treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized, and still others to hope for God's mercy."

May we all be of the same mind and temperament in how we treat those around us, no matter what our calling in life!